Court of Owls
by Nyx Grayson
Summary: When Nightwing figures out that he's next in line to becoming an assassin, he decides to keep it from the Team. But his actions have a consequence, the Talons want him and the Team is in danger. Rated T for violence and blood.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own anything.**

* * *

Beware The Court of Owls, that watches all the time,

ruling Gotham from a shadow perch,

behind granite and lime.

They watch you at your hearth,

they watch you in your bed,

speak not a whispered word of them

they'll send The Talon for your head.

* * *

Nightwing was just sitting on the edge of a rooftop, staring at his wrist computer, last night he broke a tooth, not really that odd, but when he looked at it, there was a symbol etched on it, he was pretty sure the dentist didn't put it there.

It was an owl, the Court of Owls to be presice, he had worked it out with a little research and a few interrogations, Jack Haly had been sending circus kids to the Court to become undead assassins, he couldn't believe it.

Everything else just suddenly happened, theories, each one worse than the last. Batman had saved him by adopting him, Zucco had saved him from being an assassin by killing his parents.

Ol' Jack was a bad guy.

The Team would probably not trust him anymore, there it was, the doubt that had gnawed at Artemis the first year she joined the Team, the fear of being judged. He decided to kepp it until later, maybe when he really needed too.

"Parentage doesn't matter, what matters is who we choose to be, I chose to be Robin, then Nightwing, I can chose whether or not I want to be a Talon."

The bird swung away, unaware that a glowing pair of owl-like eyes were watching him.

"Very well little birdie, if that's how you want to play…"

The figure in black and gold slunk back to the shadows, it's silver throwing knives and gold weapons shimmered in the moonlight.

* * *

**Author's Note: Review if you want me to continue! I don't have a review number I'd just appreciate it so at least one.**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I own nothing.**

* * *

"DIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK!"

"WHAAAAAAT?"

"Master Richard, Master Timothy, I would appreciate it if you two would stop shouting across the house"

Alfred stated, ever calm. Tim dashed up the stairs, very fast but slow enough for Nightwing to stand up and open his bedroom door.

Drake stopped and panted for a few seconds while Dick watched, then the youth blurted out

"Ican'tfindmyweaponsorstafforbelt!"

Nightwing rolled his eyes and said

"Don't you have spares in the Batcave's cupboard?"

"Oh… yeah"

Robin bolted back down the stairs, leaving the Team's leader the chuckle lightly. Dick smiled at Alfred and the butler said

"I'd appreciate it if you kept your door unlocked and your windows closed, it's hard enough to vacuum the manor with Master Timothy running amuck"

Richard nodded and grinned

"Will do, A"

Dick went back in his room, making sure that everything was Alfred-approved before leaving for the Cave, not the Batcave, Mount Justice.

Tim swung beside him and Barbara joined after a few blocks, they chatted along the way, Dick usually left out because he went ahead of the other two.

Also, Nightwing was the first to see spinning silver blades spinning his way. He yelled at his teammates

"Drop!"

They obeyed his command without a thought, landing on the rooftop that they were above, thankfully not far away, they flipped, somersaulted and crouched to break their fall.

Nightwing was quick to spot the lone Talon on the rooftop a few buildings away. He looked down, the old phone booth was there

"Get to the Cave, go!"

Batgirl dropped first, Robin followed and Nightwing stayed, Barbara looked up at their leader

"Nightwing! Get down here!"

"Just get to Mount Justice, I'll be right behind you!"

The Talon's throwing knives started raining down on the trio, Batgirl dodged with great skill and Robin deflected them with his bo staff.

Nightwing threw a wingding of his own at the Talon and took out his eskrima sticks. Barbara paused to look up at Dick, Tim yelled at her

"Babs, get down!"

She moved just in time for the knife aimed at her to miss her throat, but another throwing knife sped after it, stabbing her thigh. Tim caught her as she wobbled, Barbara looked up and saw Nightwing's shadow battling out with a much larger figure.

"Batgirl, get in!"

Robin shoved the older girl into the phone booth

"Recognized, Batgirl B21"

* * *

Barbara stumbled into the Mission room, Bumblebee jogged over

"Batgirl! What happened?"

Wonder Girl flew over and they helped their injured teammate up, Conner asked

"Where's Nightwing and Robin?"

Weakly, Batgirl glanced at the zeta, the two batkids hadn't come back yet. The redhead gasped as Karen accidently touched the knife hilt embedded deep in the girl's leg.

"Let's get you to the med lab girl, it might've nicked an artery"

It was hard to see the blood with Batgirl's dark grey uniform but it was turning darker where the red liquid was soaking her leg.

Cassie and Conner carried Babs to the med bay and Karen worked with M'gann to remove the blade and stitch up the wound.

A few minutes later, Tim tumbled out of the zeta, a little scratched up and bruised but otherwise unharmed, Garfield hovered around his teammate asking questions a little too fast to understand.

Robin shushed the green boy and said

"It's a Talon"

"What's that?"

"No idea, Nightwing told me- OW, broken rib don't touch"

Mal glanced back at the entrance that Dick was supposed to come in through, nothing.

* * *

**Author's Note: I DIED when I saw the reviews, 11, My lucky number! I love you all. **

**Please review. Please? REVIEW! They make me happy.**

**And no, I did not kill off Nightwing for the second fanfiction in a row, I'll do that later :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for all the reviews! ****Implied swearing by Batgirl. Also text speech.**

**I own Nothing**

* * *

Barbara's phone buzzed, she ignored it, it buzzed again.

Tim picked it up, staring at the text message

"_RJDGW:_

_I'll be home for dinner hon :)"_

It took a second for Tim to understand. Nightwing texted Batgirl. Robin smirked and handed the cell to Barbara.

"It's Wing"

The redhead quickly grabbed it and typed furiously

"_BBG:_

_Were the f*** r u?"_

"_RJDGW:_

_Language Babs, I'm alright, not that you asked, and currently sword fighting with an undead assassin :D"_

Barbara gaped at the tiny screen and said

"Guys, Nightwing's texting me"

"_BBG:_

_Lemme get ths strait, ur txting me while fihting a zmbie?"_

"_RJDGW:_

_And I still have better grammar :D"_

Tim smiled as he read over her shoulder

"He does have better grammar, you should look into writing class"

"Shut up."

Conner asked her

"So, he doesn't need help?"

"_BBG:_

_U ned bcup?"_

"_RJDGW:_

_Sorry, I can't read your text writing :("_

Robin sighed and snatched the device, now the whole Team was watching

"_BBG:_

_It's Robin, she asked you if you need backup"_

"_RJDGW:_

_Oh, no help needed here, I've got this under control, Commish might be angry at me for wrecking the subway though. :P"_

Barbara tilted her head, then grabbed the blackberry

"_BBG:_

_Get ur butt hre so u dont di"_

"_RJDGW:_

_What? I'm perfectly fine, you know, ish. :|"_

"_BBG:_

_Jst du it"_

"_RJDGW:_

_Logging off :D"_

"_BBG:_

_Snfabtch!"_

Dick smiled to himself, turning off his phone, he dodged a silver blow and blocked with his own katana. Sparks scattered everywhere when Nightwing took a step foreward, his blade sliding along the Talon's.

"You could have been the greatest bird, your skill is beyond-"

"Ah! It speaks! I was wondering if it was my charm though, people tend to like my ass"

Dick gave a cheeky grin before dancing away nimbly, he looked up

"You know, since it gets VERY hot down here with all the trains and people, they need to keep this place the perfect temperature, how they did that with limited technology was using liquid nitrogen, it flows though these pipes all around the subway system, cool huh?"

The Talon realized something, Nightwing was smart, the robin had outsmarted the owl.

"And Talons react badly to cold"

Richard flipped once and the durable sword easily slashed through the piping, sending white gas into the air, freezing the ground.

Dick had his rebreather on, he peered through the cloud of gas, the Talon had escaped.

"Well this isn't like a Talon at all"

Nightwing didn't swear, he just picked up his eskrima sticks, walked out of the subway, jumped on a roof, roofran to the old phonebooth, went inside, got teleported to the Cave.

Then got rammed into by a young boy in colorful spandex and kevlar.

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**Author's Note: Sorry that these were short, and sorry that I made Babs swear twice, also sorry that Barbara's text writing is horrible. Also sorry if you thought I killed Nightwing, sorry for anything that I did wrong. :)**

**RJDGW: Richard John "Dick" Grayson Wayne aka Nightwing**

**BBG: Barbara "Babs" Gordon aka Batgirl**

**Review? I update faster (as you can see) with reviews.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own anything.**

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To say that Dick was surprised would be an understatement, HOLY CRAP TIM GAVE HIM A FLYING HUG!

Flying hugs should not exist in the Batman world.

Dick propped himself up on his elbows, the force of Tim's hug had thrown them both to the ground

"Robin? Why'd you do that?"

"Beeeeeecaaaaauuuse I thought you were eaten by a zombie."

Tim replied after a moment of thought, Richard's eyebrow went up

"He was just undead, not a zombie, besides, he got away when I tried to freeze him"

"So he'll be attacking other people?"

"No, Talons are assassins, not just random killers, they report to that Court of Owls"

Barbara scoffed

"That old nursery rhyme? Please."

"We've faced weirder"

Batgirl shrugged, M'gann asked

"Who are they?"

"The Talons are circus performers recruited by the Court, they're practically immortal and their weakness is the cold, freeze them and it'll stop them for a while"

"Who's the Court of Owls then?"

"Pretty much a secret society of immortal people, they're probably older than Gotham"

"How do you know so much?"

Dick paused, then replied

"That's classified"

He stood up and said

"I've got a DNA sample to test out"

Liar. He kept on lying his way to the zeta, just to keep the Team at bay, but he didn't say that he wasn't related to the Talons, he simply left out a few details, technically, he wasn't lying. He was just saying that to make himself feel a little better, of course he was lying.

He already knew the owner of the DNA, thankfully it wasn't William Cobb, it was Alexander Staunton.

He really didn't know much about them individually but he knew that if the 1850s Talon was here, then where were the others? The Court didn't just skip a few Talons and pick up a random old one.

More importantly, where was Cobb?

Dick arrived at the Batcave, usually he would do this kind of thing on the Cave's computer but he didn't really want to risk it, excuse: The Batcave has a more detailed database on Gotham criminals.

It was true, mostly. But not any more detailed then a laptop for finding Talons.

He leaned back in Batman's chair, staring at the little information that he had on the Talons, very slowly, he reached foreward and filled it out with everything he knew and theorized about them.

While he was typing, he kept on glancing around, the dinosaur was a little scary, the huge penny seemed like it could fall over at any second, everything else was covered in shadow.

He finished up faster then he thought he would, he looked up at the holographic screen and noted that every single thing that was needed on the Talons was there, identities, backgrounds, fighting styles, patterns, motives, weaknesses, everything.

He deleted the edits he had made and only put the names of the Talons and a vague biography, leaving out his relationship with William.

No-one had no know. It was over, right?

* * *

**Author's Note: This was poopy. I just made this one up to give them a break from the action. Sorry if I made mistakes.**

**Review Please, I like reviews a lot, even though this chapter didn't have anything in it, I'll work on an action chapter in the next few hours.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I Do Not Own Anything.**

* * *

Dick jolted awake, his hand pressed against his chest, he panted for a little bit before rolling off the bed. Nightmare.

He dressed in his uniform and placed on his mask, glancing at the clock, 2 am, no-one was up yet, unless they didn't sleep.

It had been a week since the Talon incident, everyone was starting to forget about it, like one of those random criminal encounters that were almost daily.

Dick walked to the mission room, that night he had slept in the Cave, mostly to study his Krolotean vocabulary, he was quite close to fluent but was still looking for some synonyms for certain words that were untranslatable.

Richard looked all over the rotating letters that would have been foreign to him a few months ago, multitasking was his thing so he had another screen up where he was hacking submarine sonar to try and figure out where Kaldur and Artemis were, his excuse was that he was looking for La'gaan, he was partially doing that, but he also wanted to make sure that his teammates were safe.

The room was abnormally quiet, he half expected a Talon or monster to jump out and kill him, or attack the Team, he glanced at the security footage, it was a little stalker but he turned that window off when he was sure that they were okay.

"A little overprotective don't you think?"

Barbara put her chin on his shoulder while she looked at what he was doing

"Just a precaution"

"Bat-Paranoia? Hasn't gotten me yet"

"It'll come later on"

"You were so much more fun before"

"How's the stab?"

"Still hurts."

Dick nodded and said

"Why don't you get some rest, I've got things to do"

"What kind of things?"

"Stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"I'd rather not have this conversation"

"Why not?"

"It's annoying"

"How annoying?"

"Very."

Batgirl smirked, then turned on her heels and walked towards her room, she turned around again and asked.

"How long has it been since you've gotten a good night of sleep?"

"Meaning?"

"No nightmares, more than five straight hours"

"… Three years. Not counting when I was sedated or unconscious, I usually do two hours then accumulate naps"

Babs glared at him, that was just not right.

"If you don't get to sleep soon I'm going to sedate you"

"Try, I'm working"

The redhead scowled then resumed walking towards her room, Dick smiled at her retreating form, he won this round.

He dragged krolotean words all over the screen and then a silly idea formed in his head, he lined them up into a perfect 3 dimensional sphere and smiled at the glowing blue object about the size of his fist, he made a swift exaggerated gesture with both his hands imitating an explosion and the words suddenly spread out in a round band all around him.

He smiled and spun it with one hand, staring at the strange writing that went around him, he stopped it and moved certain words around. It was really fun, but he didn't let his amusement show, it was supposed to be work after all.

Tim hid perfectly and watched the ribbon of incomprehensible words spin slowly around Dick as Nightwing rearranged the letters and words.

Dick pulled a screen in front of him and checked the news, then slid the window outside of his little ribbon of Krolotean words.

Robin smiled when Nightwing sent the little band of letters spinning all around him, Dick looked up

"I know you're up there, come on"

Tim's shoulders slumped, he wasn't really that good at stealth, but he supposed that no-one could hide this close to a trained bat without being caught.

"Whatcha doing?"

"Working, why aren't you asleep?"

"Not tired, why aren't you sleeping?"

"Don't sleep"

"You're human, you sleep"

"Maybe I'm not human"

"Maybe you aren't"

"Maybe you should go to sleep now"

"Maybe I shouldn't"

"Maybe this is all a dream and to wake up you need to go back to bed so you can have this conversation in real life."

"Maybe I hate you"

"Maybe you don't"

"Maybe I should follow you around annoyingly"

"Maybe you should go to sleep right now"

Tim glared but still walked back to bed. Dick waited and turned off everything before walking out through the zeta tube.

He reappeared in Gotham, where he mounted his carefully hidden motorcycle, then he drove off.

* * *

A different Talon then the one the batkids had encountered a week ago stood on the power lines near a house in Palo Alto.

Wally stared at where Artemis was supposed to sit, he glared holes into it, willing her to appear, he missed her already but knew she wasn't coming back, not for a few months at least,

Nelson whined and put his head on Wally's leg, the ex-speedster smiled and affectionately rubbed his dog's head.

"I know bud, I miss her too"

He glanced at the time

"'Bout time for pizza right?"

The dog tilted his head and his ears perked

"I'll take that as a yes"

He stood up and reached towards the phone, Nelson swiftly turned and growled at the window, fur standing on end.

"What is it? A bird?"

The lights suddenly went out, the storm outside worsened and wind battered the walls of the small house.

A large burly man in black was standing in the window, it was as creepy as one of Nightwing sudden appearances, but the wind and the dark that made the trees sway behind him in the mid-dark while hiding the lamplights outside made it scarier than Dick's ninja stealth appearances that the ex-boy wonder did better than anyone.

Nelson growled one last time before fleeing to one of the other rooms. Wally's hand went behind his back and pushed the small button that called Nightwing when he was really in trouble,

"I hope you called in my successor, or else this would be a pointless expedition"

"Who?"

The window was opened, the wind gusted into the house and made the papers on Wally's desk flutter up and swirl around the room.

The owl mask was creepy, making Wally back into the counter, _c'mon Dick, hurry up, _the owl masked man was just giving off a scary and dangerous vibe.

"Wh-what do you want with me?"

"Nothing, let's just wait for a little bit until our boy gets here"

"What're you talking about?"

"You know, Kid Flash"

Eeeek, the creepy guy knew who he was before, most likely knew any connections with the Flash, making Wally leverage.

"Just leave me alone!"

Just as the speedster was about to zoom off, a throwing knife impaled the hood of his jacket, pinning it to the wall, two others trapped his sleeves, stupid baggy clothing. Wally looked up and gulped at the sight of the black owl.

* * *

**Author's note: Sorry that this chapter was later than the others, I'll explain a lot next chapter, this one was just to get Wally in there somewhere.**

**Review! Please, I'd like to know if you have any questions.**

**Also, I didn't read the comics so don't yell at me if I get personalities wrong, I just did a lot of research. :)**

**Review?**


	6. Chapter 6

**I Do Not Own Anything... Not one of my best fight scenes, I hope I do better ones in future fics, tips would be much appreciated.**

* * *

Dick burst through the window and slammed his feet into the Talon's face, knocking the older man down, he quickly freed his best friend with a few yanks on the knives and said

"Wally, run"

"I'm not running from anything man"

It was pointless to argue with the speedster and so Nightwing dealt a whopping spinning kick to the now upright Talon, who, in turn, threw four knives at the vigilante.

Wally zoomed around and caught them before they could hit his friend

"See? I'm not useless"

"I know Wally, but- Watch out!"

Ex-Boy Wonder pounced on his friend and saved him from a killer punch thrown by the Talon, his fist impaled the wall.

"Geez, I'm gonna need a lot of repair work"

"I'll cover the money, you do the work, let's concentrate on surviving this guy"

Nightwing pushed his friend off to the side the second they got up and started dodging blows

"Who are you?"

"Not Cobb, he would simply kill you while the orders say otherwise"

Wally sommersaulted away from four knives and evaded a net, just barely.

"Anyway, while we're on the subject of you guys tell me why you called Wing 'sucessor' I'd really like to know"

Talon replied

"Well, as you know, Richard is a very gifted boy"

"Shut up!"

"But as you know, it's dangerous to keep secrets while leading a team, the sudden reveal of those might make a certain degree of mistrust between them"

"Shut it."

Dick did a spinning kick at Talon's face that was easily dodged

"Point is, he's a Talon as well, the next generation of assassin and the most gifted of all"

"WHAT?"

Wally gaped at his best friend, Talon took advantage of it and kicked Wally through a wall. Dick didn't waste a second and shoved the assassin into the freezer.

Nightwing had taken the liberty to empty the food and shelves onto the floor in the few spare seconds that he had. He tipped the box horizontally and stood casually on it while he waited for the Talon to finally freeze.

Wally finally came back through the wall and looked around.

"Please explain to me what just happened? And why is the bad guy in my freezer?"

"Ummm, we've shared a lot of secrets, so would you mind one extra?"

"Ugh. Fine, let's just give this guy to the cops and you can write me a check okay?"

"What?"

"Yeah, you heard me, you're paying for all this."

Dick sighed heavily. The lid rose a little and Nightwing yelped and almost fell off, Wally helped and they sat on the lid together.

Nightwing explained the whole thing for one hour, including his connection to Cobb and Haly's involvment, after that one hour, they took the now-frozen Talon to the local police where Nightwing explained the whole assassin and where they'd find the records for crimes so that Talon could be sent to a really good prison.

Somehow, Dick wasn't convinced that the Talon was going to stay there for long.

* * *

"And so you're supposed to be an assassin but your parents died and Bruce adopted you and it messed up their plan so now they think of you as a traitor but you just found out because you went to the circus and found a book."

"Then I went all around Gotham and Bludhaven gathering intel from gangs, museums, libraries, everywhere, even the Batcomputer didn't have that much, I should do it more often, hey Robin."

Wally looked at his friend on confusion and then the chair in front of the huge holographic computer turned, Tim was sitting in it, fully costumed, a slight glare aimed at the older boys.

"So, you knew more about the Talons then you were letting on"

"Yeah, sorry"

"And I thought Wally hated your guts."

"A Talon came to Wally's house, we caught him and sent him to jail, I really demolished most of Wally's stuff so I need to write him a check"

"And he had to come here?"

"Just in case"

Tim didn't look convinced, the Boy Wonder glared at Dick and said

"I don't believe you, but I will keep my mouth shut, you owe me one."

"You've owed me fifteen favors."

"Shaddup Dick."

"Loving the brotherly affection."

"Sarcasm."

"Yup."

* * *

**Author's Note: Umm, review? I hope I explained some of your questions.**

**Reviews make me happy, I write faster and I jump up and down when someone reviews, sometimes I forget to read them in my excitement but most of the time I do remember and I adore you all.**

**I don't know if saying 'review' at the end of a chapter makes people want to review more but I'm putting it here anyways.**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I Do Not Own Anything. At All.**

* * *

Dick left Wally back at his house with supplies and money, the speedster convinced his friend that he was going to be fine.

Nightwing really didn't have anything to do, so he just went back to the Cave, looking out for calls, missions etc. so far he didn't find anything.

He was just in the mood to fight crime a little, mostly because he was bored and nothing was happening in the world, so, the logical thing to do was to leave someone in charge and go kick butt in Gotham.

That's what he did, just went out to Gotham, told the Team where to contact him and even kept a tracer or two online.

That was strange to him.

Dick swung around for a little bit before perching on a tall building, nothing to do, he looked down, rocking slightly.

So, Tim knew, Wally knew, probably others, he was losing his touch for secret keeping. He felt a swish behind him, followed by a light thud, then a seiries of thuds, he smirked to himself.

"Hey Red"

"Are you going to tell me why you didn't say anything?"

"What?"

Red Arrow sat next to Nightwing, holding a Talon mask, Dick raised an eyebrow, Roy said

"Shoved the guy in an ice cream truck. He told me everything while we were fighting, awful chatty for a guy that's been dead for half a century"

Nightwing winced

"Soo, you know?"

"I'm starting to believe him."

Oh, great. Good job Grayson, you just made sure that Roy would never doubt anything.

"Only a few others know."

"Okay, who else knows?"

"Let me see, since Impulse hasn't seen me for a while and probably hasn't even seen a Talon I doubt he's figured anything out, JL doesn't know, KF and Rob know, everyone else is clueless"

The older ginger nodded

"When're you going to cave?"

"Hopefully never, but if it endangers the Team any more then I'll tell them"

"Do you seriously think that they'll just leave you alone?"

"No. Hoping for dumb luck."

Red Arrow scoffed and stood up, handing ht emask to Dick

"If you get in trouble you can call me"

"I know."

Roy smirked but then he was rammed into by a large black thing, pushing him off the building.

"Roy!"

Nightwing called out after his quickly falling friend, the Talon quickly caught the raven haired boy and held him up by his neck

"How I'd love to kill you, traitor, but you're needed, frankly you don't seem to have much value anymore"

Dick struggled but his feet were too far from anything to get any purchase, black spots danced across his vision, he tried to pry Talon's hands away but he fell unconcious after a few minutes.

Talon slung the black clad boy over his shoulder and crept away to the shadows.

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry that this was short, but I'm losing my muse to continue this so I'm going to end it in two chapters, I'll put a fight scene where three boys in red kick butt to save Nightwing, can you guess who they are?**

**I'll update if there's two more reviews.**

**But if you really want me to continue, then I might, maybe. Maybe I'll have another Talon fic. Maybe It'll be a sequel.**

**When I say that many maybes, then I'm going to do it.**

**Just review for crying out loud.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I Do Not Own Anything!**

* * *

Under the balcony, three storeys above ground, a young boy was holding a red clad archer from falling to the ground.

"You okay?"

"I think you dislocated my shoulder" Roy stopped to wince "Pull me up."

Robin braced his feet on the railing and, with much difficulty, pulled the older man up.

"Geez, you put on some weight."

"Yeah right, shrimp."

"I bet you didn't say that to Nightwing."

"He's a strong shrimp."

Robin didn't comment, he only shoved the archer's arm back into the socket.

"You got a plan?"

"No, I don't even know where to begin looking for Nightwing"

"I do, I can't say anything more without giving away our secret identities."

A blur zoomed past them and screeched to a helt right in front of them

"That totally crashed the mode! I was like ZOOOMZOOM! SCREEEECH! ALL around Gotham and the US looking for some crash and then I saw you guys in the distance, so I was like ZOOOOOOOM! To try and get to you and then bad guy pushed you off the side so I was all like SHROOM! But then I saw you catch him so I was like OKAY! Then I looked up and saw Nightwing then the bad guy, looked kinda like an OWL then I went SHOOM to try and stop him. But the bad guy already had Wing so I went ZOOOOOM! But he did a weird little stealth thing so then I went WOOOSH ZOOOMSHOOM! Then I couldn't find him, you didn't see me cause I was going too fast, then I went SHOOOOM! And came right back here to see you pull him back up that must taken a lotta muscle, THEN, I heard you talking so I went ZOOM ZOOM WOOSH and came back right in front of you and here I am. That was so Crash."

Robin and Red Arrow blinked at the hyperactive speedster, not one word registered in either of the boy's minds.

"Ummm, are you sure Impulse?"

"Nah, I was just going for a stroll and happened to see the last few seconds."

"Oh."

Robin replied, Roy growled lightly and stood up

"Whenever you're ready Robin, we need to go as soon as possible"

"Like I don't know that already, we're gonna need backup… do you happen to carry a cellphone? Batman doesn't let me go on patrol with mine"

Roy shoveled through his pockets and quiver before pulling out a small flip phone, Robin dialed a quick number and mouther to Roy

"_No speed dial?"_

The elder shrugged, shouldering his quiver

"Yeah… it's Robin… unhuh… don't hang up!... Yeah… D got taken by the Tals… Yeah… Okay… I'm with RA and Imp… Unhuh… Meet up where Alan Wayne was killed… I'll leave breadcrumbs… Not literally… Okay… Rally the troops, Robin out."

When the Boy Wonder looked up he saw Roy covering Bart's mouth with his hand, keeping the youth from moving.

"Umm, Red, you can let go now, I'm done"

"He's annoying, we should leave him behind."

"We need all the help we can get."

"He's not help, he's a weirdo"

"He has superpowers, something that we lack"

"He's fast enough to save out hides from their throwing knives."

"We'll settle this conversation later."

Robin growled

"Now let's go, they're assassins not babysitters"

Robin wasted no time and shot out his grappling line and swinging, Roy followed by running along rooftops and occationally shooting a line arrow, Bart zigzagged beneath them.

Red Arrow called out

"Got a plan?"

"Making this up as I go along!"

Robin's reply came, making the older archer roll his eyes, suddenly, Robin let go of his grapppling line, sending the young boy tumbling to the cement.

Red Arrow would have been scared for Tim's life, but being with batkids for this long has taught him of their suicidal impulses and reckless desires. Especially Nightwing, who enjoyed freaking out everyone by jumping off rooftops before waiting until the last second before saving himself.

Sure enough, the little bird was crouched by an uncovered sewer drain, Roy landed a little less gracefully next to the raven haired boy, Impulse zipped up

"We're not going in there, are we?"

As a response, Tim slithered inside quickly, his cape snapping behind him, Roy put his bow over his shoulder before sliding him also, Bart groaned before pinching his nose and diving.

* * *

**Author's Note: Yep, the fight'll be next chapter, I needed a transition chapter. Chapter Nine is probably going to be shorter but it'll come sooner, maybe tomorrow morning.**

**I won't end the story completely, even though this will only be eleven chapters in total, I'll write a sequel because it's a completely different plot and I can't have it under the same summary.**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

**Since I'm getting more and more reviews, I love it when you review, the next chap might be up tomorrow and I write faster with reviews, they feed my plot bunny.**

**So review! Not an order, you're allowed not to review but if you have any advice, I'll gladly take it.**

**I'll stop rambling now, just review, they make me happy.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I Own Nothing.**

* * *

Wally zeta beamed into the Cave, thankfully everyone was there

"Guys! I really need your help!"

That got their attention, Superboy asked

"That's the problem?"

"Okay, the Talon dudes that attacked a while back, well they're back, and one caught Nightwing"

Several disbelieving stares and a few gasps came out, obviously Nightwing seemed unbreakable to them, they must have forgotten that he's human.

"Yeah, so Robin has a lock on their base, he's already there with Impulse and Red Arrow. We've gotta get there pronto."

No-one moved, just too shocked by the abruptness of Wally's warning, Batgirl stood up

"Let's go!"

Then she stormed out to the hanger, Wally zipped around and came back wearing his Kid Flash suit, the rest of the Team followed hurridly, Garfield flew above them.

* * *

Dick woke up with a gasp, then stared at the… whatever was above him, it could have been the floor for all he knew, he looked around the cramped space, no gloves, no belt, no eskrima sticks, ummm, he had no idea what to do next.

He let his head fall back and tried to clear his head a little, box around the size of a person, obviously it was made of marble, heavy stone lid judging by the seam around the top, air getting stuffy. He got a conclusion that he was buried alive in a coffin.

Nightwing closed his eyes and steadied his breathing, trying to use the least amount of oxygen possible, he held his breath and drew his knee as best as he could, he started pushing against the lid, he startewd using his hands, he stopped to breathe once then continued pushing.

Sweat started breaking out over his forehead, holy carp Batman this was heavy. He thought of the first time he was buried alive, surprisingly he was buried alive an awful lot.

First time; Batman saved him

Second time: Batman

Third time: Commish found him

Fourth time: Ace the Bat-hound dug him out (That's embarrassing)

Fifth time: Red Hood used a pitchfork to get him out

Sixth time: He dug himself out using a knife

Dick pushed against the sides and the floor, solid marble, no seams except for the immovable lid. He continued remembering how he got out.

Seventh time: Batgirl used a train to get him out (He didn't know how she did it)

Eighth time: Robin used a kiddy shovel to get him out (He was still impressed)

Ninth time: Ummm, it kinda went boom.

He was feeling tired already, he'd probably used up his oxygen already, he glanced around one last time, he had a cuts on the inside of his forearms, he couldn't feel them, Nightwing wondered what could possibly make him not see the cuts on his arms, he inspected him, the lack of air was fogging his judgement.

Running his fingers over the slits in his outfit, he felt the untouched skin underneath, confusing him, the blood had to come from somewhere, right? He closed his eyes, it was only for a second, he passed out.

* * *

Impulse complained for the billionth time was he removed something brownish-green and unidentifiable from his boot.

"This stinks, when can we find Nightwing already?"

"Shut up before I shut you up."

Roy threatened, Robin was still leading them, the raven haired boy stopped and said

"Drop your socks and grab your crocks, we're gonna get wet."

Bart almost threw up at the sight of the murky green water, he could have sworn that he saw something large and black move in the water, also he saw the carcass of a long dead thing in the distance

"Robin, I'm sure I don't want to swim in anything that glows green and contains bloodthirsty marine animals dead for centuries."

Tim shoved his hand in the brown slime under his feet and pulled out a dirty antique throwing knife

"Talons go this way, this must be their hideout"

"You really like Nightwing a lot to do this for him"

"Ever any doubt?"

Robin shoved a rebreather on and dove in the water, Roy shrugged and put his rebreather in his mouth, smirking at Bart and diving in feet first.

Impulse groaned, looked around then put on the rebreather that he had gotten as part of his supplies, then shuddered before slowly sliding in, he followed the other two boys.

Robin helped the auburn haired boy out of the water, plucking poop out of the future boy's head, making Bart shudder once again

"We're so going to need a shower, feeling the mode."

"Dude, we either find Nightwing or skip a shower, frankly, I want to find out leader"

"Why don't you call him your brother? After all, Batman adopts you"

Tim stared wide-eyed at Bart, to be adopted by Bruce would mean that his father has to die first, Bart covered his mouth

"Sorry man, spoilers, musta gotten my history mixed up, totally moded."

Roy looked up, then drew an arrow

"Guys, we've got company"

Robin had two birdarangs at the ready, Impulse got into a running position. Three Talons crawled out, one for each of them, Tim threw his shruiken and pounced with his staff at the ready, the largest met Tim with a sword.

Red Arrow attacked also, shooting arrows and cursing himself for not having any ice arrows or foam arrows, an explosion could make the structure crumble, so he used sharp arrows, they didn't even slow the Talon he was fighting.

Impulse darted around his Talon, he tried creating a vortex but it had no affect, Bart was fighting Mary, the only female Talon, the speedster skidded under a swing and tried to punch her, she caught his fist and slammed him into the ground, he vibrated his way out and simply ran.

Roy slammed his bow into the chin of his Talon, then into his stomach, Red Arrow tried to swing a kick into his opponent but he ended up being stabbed, the archer backed off and ducked under a swing, grabbing his bow and a sharp arrow before shooting the Talon straight in his face, sucessfully stopping him from regenerating.

Robin blocked punches, knives and swords with his bow staff, there was a growing number of cuts and bruises on the young boy as he was quickly loosing stamina from doing nothing but blocks.

Roy aimed carefully and his arrow pierced Impulse's Talon's head. The archer took aim for Cobb, the largest Talon fighting and almost defeating Tim, he swore as Bart joined in on the fight, the ginger couldn't risk hitting either of the younger boys.

Red Arrow pounced into the fight as well, Impulse zipped around while Robin fought with his bo staff, Red Arrow hit everywhere he could and even used an few arrows to try and stab Cobb.

Suddenly, Batgirl's boots came into view, she swung over and kicked the Talon's face

"Red, Rob, Impulse, find Nightwing, we've got this!"

Wally zipped over and sped around the Talon, William caught the speedster in a kick and sent the ginger boy flying across the room.

Red Arrow, Impulse and Robin obeyed Batgirl and ran down the maze to find Nightwing, the rest of the Team were at most equal to Cobb's skills.

Tim kicked a loose tile, finding a hole

"Guys! C'mere"

The Boy Wonder kicked off another tile and Roy helped him pry off more with his bow, Bart vibrated next to them as the hole became bigger.

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry for the crappy fight scene, I'm horrible at it. **

**Once this is over the sequel will come a few weeks after so I have a chance to finish up No Light.**

**Sorry if I made any mistakes, I'm writing fast here so I can finish up.**

**Review please, tips would be nice.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for the shortness, I don't own anything.**

* * *

Roy slipped inside the opening, Robin leapt gracefully down and looked at the three halls

"I'll take the straight, Red, take left, Imp, take right, holler if you find Nightwing"

The other two boys obliged, happy that someone was taking command, Robin darted straight ahead while Red Arrow sprinted, looked around a corner, decided at random where to go, then sprinted again, Impulse did every single possible way at super speed.

Tim skidded around another corner, the concrete walls seemed to twist and turn as he poured all his energy into the mad dash.

The raven haired boy came to a large room, it was almost cave like with a few scattered wooden chairs, he didn't take the time to examine it further, he continued faster.

Red Arrow peered around the corner, his bow drawn and ready, his eyes widened as he saw rows and rows of large coffin-size rectangles in the ground, a catacomb.

The redhead gave a quick sharp whistle without even letting his eyes leave the coffins. Impulse skidded right next to him

"Whoa."

Robin dropped from a hatch in the ceiling

"Impulse, check the lids, his name or picture must be on one"

Bart nodded and zoomed around, he was just a blur that was all over the place, until he stopped

"Found it"

He kneeled down and tried to push the lid, it didn't budge. The two older boys went over, Roy kneeled down and shoved his bow into the narrow seam between the lid and floor, levering the device.

Robin tightened his gloves and said

"It's too heavy, no air in or out."

Bart pursed his lips and vibrated as he really pushed to the max, Robin and Red Arrow all shoved, finally getting the heavy marble lid to budge, still not fast enough.

Superboy crashed through the ceiling, covering the three boys in dust.

"Move."

Conner immediately shoved the lid off the casket thingy and sent it flying through the wall. Nightwing was in there, it almost looked like he was sleeping, Roy knew better and pulled his friend out. Then checked his pulse.

The ginger archer started pushing against Dick's chest, counting under his breath.

The others waited, too scared to leave in case Roy couldn't bring Nightwing back, too scared to stay, as if their presence would somehow make it all worse, if that was possible.

Tim's world was pretty much tumbling down, if Dick didn't make it out, who would lead?

Who would tell Jason?

Or Alfred?

Or Bruce?

The last one was the most terrifying, Jason would probably blow up a few buildings, kill a few baddies but then get over it, Alfred would be upset.

But Batman?

That was going to destroy Gotham and possibly the entire League.

Bart was wondering how this happened, Nightwing had a bad past, sure, but Dick was supposed to save civilians in Bludhaven when it gets flooded with radiation. Nightwing was meant to become Renegade, Nightwing had to fall in love with Starfire. He had to lead other heroes in his life, not die.

Superboy was just frozen, desperately trying to pick up a heartbeat, even a faint one would do, nothing.

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, I wasn't able to find any time to write this and I was at camp for a while. The next chapter will be better but I'm losing my muse to write this.**

**Review please! Tell me what you think!**


	11. Chapter 11

**I Own Nothing**

* * *

Wally put his hands on his knees as he bent over panting, two Talons had arrows in their heads, Roy had killed them, but somehow, Kid Flash didn't feel that bad, Cobb was incapacitated, double tied, half-buried and tied again, no way was he getting out any time soon.

M'gann dove down the large hole that Superboy had created, followed by the rest of the Team, Wally zipped ahead and stared.

Dozens of thoughts ran through the speedster's mind, only half of them were his.

Megan arrived a second after, both were standing several metres away, close enough to see Roy pushing Dick's chest, the rest soon followed, all holding their breaths.

Blue Beetle was listening for the Scarab to say that Nightwing was okay, all he got was a few comments on who the next leader should be.

Suddenly Nightwing gasped in a huge breath and coughed a few times to get his lungs working properly, a collective sigh filled the room and a few releived laughs rang out.

"That was…"

Dick searched for a word while panting heavily, Roy grinned and suggested

"Whelming?"

"Yeah."

After they left, the catacomb was sealed with cement and the Talons were frozen.

The Court vanished from the face of the Earth.

The Book of Names was buried.

They thought that they had captured all the Talons, so they forgot.

Some things should never be forgotten.

Because they missed one.

* * *

**A/N: That was short, I'll put this away for a while so I can work on other stories, here's a preview for The Best:**

He got their immortality, he healed faster than normal, almost superhumanly fast, he couldn't feel pain.

He had the itch though.

Different from the others.

Serve the masters.

Serve the greater good.

But more importantly, he was the best of them, faster, stronger, more agile, younger and more skilled.

And he's not a hero.

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry that this took so long, I was on vacation and I wasn't allowed to tell anyone because my mom's paranoid like that.**

**This was short because I didn't have anything to say, if you review a lot I'll put up the sequel sooner.**

**REVIEW 10x or no sequel.**


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